Neil deGrasse Tyson and producers discuss the return of Cosmos and give a glimpse into its future.

"A mere four centuries ago, our tiny world was oblivious to the rest of the cosmos. There were no telescopes. The universe was only what you could see with the naked eye." This opening monologue, as spoken by astrophysicist celebrity Neil deGrasse Tyson during a panel at New York Comic Con, begins a new episode and a new era for the television series Cosmos. This particular episode tells the story of Giordano Bruno, an Italian polymath who believed the universe was infinite. He was ostracized and forgotten by history until years later when many of his theories proved true.

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The story of Cosmos is also one of rediscovery. The original Emmy award-winning series ran 13 episodes in the fall of 1980 and featured renowned scientist Carl Sagan. Of course it was loved and appreciated during its short run time, but during the NYCC panel, Cosmos still held an emotional influence over its fans and creators.

"What we did with the original series—the idea was not to just impart information and to dazzle the eye," says executive producer Ann Druyan, Sagan's widow who co-wrote the original Cosmos, "but more importantly to make people feel something."

Sagan's Cosmos explored different corners of science using narrative and special effects to communicate complex concepts and theories, and after 33 years, a few things have changed. For one, the title (at least past the colon) has changed from "A Personal Voyage" to "A Space-Time Odyssey," and Tyson has replaced Carl Sagan behind the mike. But one noticeable difference is the artistic style. From the brief four-minute opener revealed at NYCC, executive producer Brannon Braga (Star Trek, Terra Nova) and the art team have opted for a graphic novel-type treatment for this episode. The clip features an animated Bruno, against a photo-realistic backdrop, as he tries to enlighten a skeptical 17th-century society. As another four-minute trailer teased at San Diego Comic Con in August, Cosmos will be using stunning digital effects and live-action storytelling as well. Even if the show feels a little different, Braga says at its core, it's very much the same.

"It's not about the effects; the effects serve the ideas," Braga says. "Bringing a narrative background to this hopefully is evolving what is already there."

Choosing to animate pieces of the show was influenced by another one the show's producers, says Druyan, Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy. And with animated sequences come voice actors, and the talent pool is pretty deep with voice contributions from Richard Gere, Patrick Stewart and Kirsten Dunst.

During the panel, fans posed questions to the four involved with the project, but many simply wanted to say thank you for bring back a beloved show that inspired them so many years ago. Cosmos will return to primetime television in early-to-mid 2014, but until then, the producers know they've got some work to do.

"[Cosmos] is telling the story of our place in the universe and how we came to know it," Braga says. "That's a pretty big story."